We have been looking forward to exercising something besides our digestive systems for some time now, so Rowan and I decided to venture out on our own for a trip to the Salar Jung Museum (http://www.salarjungmuseum.in/home.asp), to exercise the right side of our brains. We had our driver take us across town through neighborhoods we haven’t seen yet including the ‘old town’, which is primarily a Muslim neighborhood and where the museum is located.
A short video of the street in old town leading to the museum.
When we arrived at the museum we got in line to purchase our tickets and then headed to the bag check to deposit our camera in a locker (there is no photography allowed inside the museum and the security scanner will find our camera in our bag). We then proceeded to the security checkpoint before entering the museum (again a reminder of the security threat in public places like this. The army was doing the checking, guns and everything). Women are led to one line and men to another. It was funny how Rowan and I were towering above every other woman in the line, sticking out like the big European white women that we are. When the guard saw us, he motioned for us to come forward to the front of the line, showing the cast system is still alive and well for certain things. It made us feel kind of awkward, as we have no problem standing in line and waiting our turn. We enjoy taking these opportunities to strike up conversation with the local people. Once inside we viewed displays of outstanding fabrics, ivory (scrimshaw), and paintings from India and other countries throughout this region. As we were viewing the art, we had many school age children come up to us and ask us where we were from. All of them spoke perfect English and seemed anxious for us to speak to them and hear about our world. I think we were as much on display as the art was. :o)
Here are some photos from outside of the museum:
Rowan with the elephant topiary
a portion of the gardens with a statue of Salar Jung
